Gennadius II Scholarius

Gennadios II
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Gennadios II Scholarios on a wall fresco in a monastery in Serres
Church	Church of Constantinople
In office	6 Jan 1454 – 6 Jan 1456 Apr 1463 – c. June 1463 Aug 1464 – autumn 1465
Predecessor	Athanasius II Joasaph I Sophronius I
Successor	Isidore II Sophronius I Mark II
Personal details
Birth name	Georgios Kourtesios Scholarios
Born	c. 1400 Constantinople
Died	c. 1473 Saint John Prodromos Monastery near Serrae

Gennadius II (Greek Γεννάδιος Βʹ; lay name Γεώργιος Κουρτέσιος Σχολάριος, Georgios Kourtesios Scholarios; c. 1400 – c. 1473) was a Byzantine philosopher and theologian, and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1454 to 1464. He was a strong advocate for the use of Aristotelian philosophy in the Eastern Church.

Gennadius was, together with his mentor, Mark of Ephesus, involved in the Council of Florence which aimed to end the schism between East and West. Gennadius had studied and written extensively on Western theology. After the failure of the union of Florence and the Fall of Constantinople, Gennadius became the first Ecumenical Patriarch of Ottoman Constantinople.

A polemicist, Scholarios left in writing several treatises on the differences between Eastern and Western theology, the Filioque, a defence of Aristotelianism and excerpts from an exposition (entitled Confession) of the Orthodox faith addressed to Mehmed II.

Scholarius is believed to have been born as Georgios in Constantinople in c.1400. His abecedary was Mark of Ephesus (d. 1444). Following his tutelage under the famous John Chortasmenos ("didaskalos" of the Patriarchal School), Manuel-Mark might have then recommended him to study under his own previous master, Georgios Gemistus Pletho (d. 1452/1454), c. 1428. However, his studies under Pletho are a matter of speculation and, at any rate, would have been more likely attendance at Pletho's lectures at Mistra. Scholarius had been a teacher of philosophy before entering the service of the emperor John VIII Palaeologus as a theological advisor. In fact, in 1437 – in anticipation of the Council of Ferrara-Florence – the emperor formally studied Nilus Cabasilas' works along with Mark of Ephesus and Gennadius Scholarius. Curiously, the trio also formally studied the works of John Duns Scotus (d. 1308) because of his rejection of the Filioque in thomistic metaphysics, as well as Scotus' doctrine of a "formal distinction" between the persons and essence of God, as well as God's attributes (or "energies"). It was for this reason that Scholarius wrote an academic refutation of the first eighteen of Mark of Ephesus' "Syllogistic Chapters against the Latins." From this, we can surmise that Scholarius was likely writing an academic exercise to inform his former master that Thomas Aquinas' opinions did not constitute a universally Latin approach to questions on the Trinity.